EU R&D investment hit €403 billion in 2024

The EU spent an estimated €403.1 billion on research & development in 2024, corresponding to 2.24% of the EU's total GDP, according to official statistics.

A report published in December 2025 by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, showed that investment in R&D in the 27 member states increased by 3.6% in 2024 compared to 2023 (€389.2bn). Compared to 2014, R&D expenditure increased by 62.2% from €248.6bn.

In 2024, six EU countries registered an R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP) equal to or higher than 3%, the target originally set in March 2002 to be achieved by 2010. In contrast, seven EU member states reported R&D intensity at or below 1%, namely Romania and Malta (both at 0.5%), Cyprus (0.7%), Bulgaria (0.8%), Latvia (0.9%), and Slovakia and Luxembourg (each at 1.0%).

Reaching 3% of GDP in Europe is one of the objectives that the European Commission would like to implement in its European Research Act (ERA), a policy framework to be presented in the third quarter of 2026.

The six countries that have achieved the target

R&D intensity was highest in Sweden…